The invention relates generally to the cooking of foodstuffs in a microwave oven. More particularly, a multi-purpose microwave oven cooking device is provided which is capable of popping corn, steaming, and roasting.
Popcorn has been made in many ways. For example, the kernels have been placed in a screen-like container, with a long handle such that the corn may be held suspended above an open flame or coals. In other cases, the corn is popped with hot oil that is heated in a variety of fashions, or is suspended in a fluidized bed and popped with hot air. Whatever the arrangement for heating the corn, in many cases, a container is provided which contains a large upper portion and a relatively small lower portion. The smaller, lower portion is used to retain the kernels in a clumped mass for heating and the larger, upper portion is used as a storage area for popped kernels to expand into. With many of these prior art methods of popping corn, radiant, conductive or convective heat was not distributed evenly and agitation of the popcorn popper was necessary to promote a more uniform distribution of heat to the unpopped kernels.
More recently, an interest has developed in popping corn with microwave energy. This has an advantage in that agitation is usually not necessary since microwave energy will easily contact each unpopped kernel. In one prior art method, a sealed and sometimes partially collapsed plastic bag of kernels, with or without oil, is placed in a microwave oven. Microwave radiation is then directed into the oven to the kernels, causing them to pop and expand into the bag. In another case, a relatively deep conically-shaped bowl is provided which is transparent to microwave energy. The conically-shaped bowl is oriented in the oven with a downwardly directed apex which acts as a heating chamber for retaining unpopped kernels in a clumped mass while the upper portion of the bowl provides an upper storage chamber within which the popped corn kernels can expand. Methods that involve popping corn with disposable plastic containers are inevitably more costly because of the disposal of the container. However, the prior art conically-shaped microwave oven reuseable popcorn poppers suffer from a limitation in the quantity of popcorn which can be produced in any given batch.
Steaming and roasting of vegetables, meat, poultry and fish with microwave energy has also become more popular in recent years. Generally, these operations are carried out in conventionally-shaped bowls or containers with a removable cover. Often the use of conventionally-shaped cooking utensils of this type for steaming and roasting in a microwave oven does not result in the most efficient distribution of microwave energy or the heat and steam resulting from absorption of microwave energy by the foodstuffs.